Solar energy and the Feed-In Tariff - your opinions

They must be making a fair profit. Out of interest I got a quote direct from manufacture for high quality 320w panels, don't even own a house. 15 Panels a little over 4.5kw works out at £4571 or 5666 if that doesnt have duty/vat paid, delivered to London docks.
inverters seem to be around 1-2k for 5kw. Not sure what other parts you need, roof fixing system. But that's a lot left over from 12k.

Suppose there is the labour fitting them and bolting them through your tiles making your roof still waterproof?

To be fair, on a £12,000 job I would expect at least a £2000 margin after labour costs, maybe more.
 
Just watched this being debated in the House of Commons. What a farce.

It's clear 43.3p PV FiT is too high, generating return >10% & facilitating suboptimal deployments. It's also clear cutting by >50% with a few weeks notice is crazy! I'd support a more gradual FiT decline of 15-20% per year for several years, starting in April 2013. Businesses & people need time to plan!
 
Solar manufacturers should step up their game and start making more efficient panels if they want to keep the market afloat in the UK.
Panel efficiency isn't the issue. It's the cost of manufacture - a quite different thing, that needs to improve.
 
I just signed up for Solar panels on my roof. The way it works is:

1. I get an MCS certificate from the company who are installing the panels.

2. I tell my electricity provider I now have solar panels on my roof.

3. My electricity company then give me £1100 a year towards my electricity bill (this value is calculated at Government rates. The Government have a scheme with electricity providers saying that if a house has solar panels on it the electricty provider must give the customer approx £1100 a year)

4. Now my electricity bill is £300 a quarter on average, thats £1200 a year. So after the money back I pay £100 a year for my electricity :). Also theres an 'export income' where we send 50% of the energy we make from Solar back to the Electricity Provider which they pay us for. This is a tiny amount though, something like £70 a year. But the main mney saver is the £1100 we get from the electricity provider, and this will go up every year on predicition.


5. We'll be encouraged to use electricity more during the day as it will be using the Solar and so indoing so we will be making even more savings as we'll be using less of the electricity providers leccy.

6. This scheme is gauranteed for 25 years. The cost of the installation is £12000 and so after 8 years it will have paid for itself, then after that we'll be making money. The Solar panels and all hardware are ours to keep for life and so it's added a premium to our house value. Also theres no extra cost to add them to the house insurance.

I sat with the sales guy for a good 2 hours and grilled him about everything. Yes I'm 12k down now, but after 8 years I'll still be getting about £1100+ from my electricity provider an so I'll start making a profit. He estimates in my area the panels will make enough electricity so that during daylight hours we wont touch the electricity avaialble to us from the grid. Its only at night we use the grid's electricity. FiT of 43.3p end on Sunday so were literally the last peple on the country gettin this offer, after that it goes down to 23p.
 
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Sailing close to the wind there, I thought the system needed to be commissioned to get the greater F.I.T. are they providing a certificate before installation?
 
elrasho your a very brave man.
Hope it works out for you.

Edit:
Have you read http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Financial-incentives/UK-Government-proposed-changes-to-solar-PV-Feed-in-Tariffs

You will only get 43.3p until march next year.

"example: Mr Smith has solar PV installed on his house on 1st December 2011. His application for FITs is received by his electricity supplier on 15th December 2011. This means that Mr Smith would be affected by the Government’s proposals. He would be eligible for the current tariffs from 15th December 2011 – the eligibility date – until 31st March 2012. From 1st April 2012 he would receive the lower tariff for the remainder of the 25 years' FIT support. "
 
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Sailing close to the wind there, I thought the system needed to be commissioned to get the greater F.I.T. are they providing a certificate before installation?

Im not sure what you mean by commisioned? The MCS certificate is given after the installation.

elrasho your a very brave man.
Hope it works out for you.

Edit:
Have you read http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Financial-incentives/UK-Government-proposed-changes-to-solar-PV-Feed-in-Tariffs

You will only get 43.3p until march next year.

"example: Mr Smith has solar PV installed on his house on 1st December 2011. His application for FITs is received by his electricity supplier on 15th December 2011. This means that Mr Smith would be affected by the Government’s proposals. He would be eligible for the current tariffs from 15th December 2011 – the eligibility date – until 31st March 2012. From 1st April 2012 he would receive the lower tariff for the remainder of the 25 years' FIT support. "

That doesn't apply to me. The contract is signed and locked for 25 years with the value of 43.3p. This is a contract between me, the electricity provider and the Government. From The Gaurdian:

'The Fits work by guaranteeing homeowners, community schemes and businesses a payment for each unit (kilowatt hour) of power generated by their solar system. The rate – currently set at 43.3p for domestic-scale systems – is fixed at the time of installation and then guaranteed, and linked to inflation , for 25 years.' - link here also a Which? article
 
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What do I need to do to ensure that I can get the full 43.3p/kWh rate (systems 4kW and under in size)?

We recommend that the single most important thing you need to do to ensure you get the maximum tariff rate is to get your MCS certificate from your installer ahead of the reference date deadline. We recommend no later than 8th December, which is the latest day we recommend posting applications (unless your FIT supplier accepts electronically - so you need to check with them).

Installers are not obliged to give the certificate any sooner than 10 working days* after installation, although in many cases they will issue the certificate upon payment of their invoice, usually within 24 hours. If you are unsure whether you will be provided with your MCS certificate in time please work with your installer to obtain assurances that there will be sufficient time between installation and receiving your MCS certificate which you’ll need to post to your FIT supplier (Energy Company).

Above all you should check with your installer when you will receive your certificate, otherwise you may miss the 12th December deadline. You need to ensure that the installation date is clearly set out in the contract, and in this way it will be a contract term. Householders should be aware of this risk.




.....you need the MCS certificate and one these guys below need to get it before the deadline.
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/SUSTAINABILITY/ENVIRONMENT/FITS/RFITLS/Pages/rfitls.aspx.
 
.....you need the MCS certificate and one these guys below need to get it before the deadline.
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/SUSTAINABILITY/ENVIRONMENT/FITS/RFITLS/Pages/rfitls.aspx.

Yep I'll have it on Monday 5th and will be sent special delivery to Scottish Power so they'll get it well before the 12th.

I found this in another article: 'The new proposed tariffs would apply to all new solar PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 12 December 2011. Such installations would receive the current tariff before moving to the lower tariffs on 1 April 2012. Consumers who already receive FITs will see their existing payments unchanged, and those with an eligibility date on or before 12 December will receive the current rates for 25 years.'

Is it me or is that paragraph contradicting itself? First it says everyone will move to the low tariff on 1st April 2012 and then at the end it says if you get it installed before 12 December you'll have the old 43.3p rate for 25 years??. Link to article
 
It means get it confirmed before the 12th.
Sounds like you have it sorted :)

Good stuff :) Will keep this thread updated as I go through the whole process, kinda wish I had done this earlier but my mate only told me about it yesterday! My roof is gonna look well cool lol
 
:mad::mad::mad::mad:

The guys showed up today to do the install. They then realised they didn't have enough material to complete the job so they said they'll put the scaffolding up today and fit the electrics but come back Tuesday to install the panels.. WTF!?

NOT ENOUGH MATERIALS!? Thought these guys were meant to be the best (even two dragons have invested in them!). This is the kicker, they wanted ALL the money today even though they havn't completed the job. I'm sorry but when a builder/roofing company says that, I don't care how good you are that's a trap! They probably want my 12k today so they can buy the materials from their supplier then come do the install on Tuesday.... what a complete farce if that is the case.

Spoke to their head office an hour ago and promised a call back, no ones called back. The sales guy who came round has is mobile switched off.

I've backed out and cancelled the whole thing. I have my own theries why they don't want to do it:

1. It's a terrible day weather wise, constant rain and high wind

2. They don't want to pay my neighbour (whos getting his installed as I write this) the £400 referral

3. They just cba (it's too big of a job to do two houses in one day, even though they are semi attached!)

I'm gutted, disappointed and feel proper let down. Only plus side is I've not spent 12k but I can't help thinking about all the long term savings I could have made.
 
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I just signed up for Solar panels on my roof. The way it works is:

1. I get an MCS certificate from the company who are installing the panels.

2. I tell my electricity provider I now have solar panels on my roof.

3. My electricity company then give me £1100 a year towards my electricity bill (this value is calculated at Government rates. The Government have a scheme with electricity providers saying that if a house has solar panels on it the electricty provider must give the customer approx £1100 a year)

4. Now my electricity bill is £300 a quarter on average, thats £1200 a year. So after the money back I pay £100 a year for my electricity :). Also theres an 'export income' where we send 50% of the energy we make from Solar back to the Electricity Provider which they pay us for. This is a tiny amount though, something like £70 a year. But the main mney saver is the £1100 we get from the electricity provider, and this will go up every year on predicition.


5. We'll be encouraged to use electricity more during the day as it will be using the Solar and so indoing so we will be making even more savings as we'll be using less of the electricity providers leccy.

6. This scheme is gauranteed for 25 years. The cost of the installation is £12000 and so after 8 years it will have paid for itself, then after that we'll be making money. The Solar panels and all hardware are ours to keep for life and so it's added a premium to our house value. Also theres no extra cost to add them to the house insurance.

I sat with the sales guy for a good 2 hours and grilled him about everything. Yes I'm 12k down now, but after 8 years I'll still be getting about £1100+ from my electricity provider an so I'll start making a profit. He estimates in my area the panels will make enough electricity so that during daylight hours we wont touch the electricity avaialble to us from the grid. Its only at night we use the grid's electricity. FiT of 43.3p end on Sunday so were literally the last peple on the country gettin this offer, after that it goes down to 23p.

£300 a quarter on electric !!! what in the hell are u running in your house, no wonder u need solar panels
 
Just reading through your earlier posts and I think you've dodged a bullet. Only £1100 estimated annual income from FIT's? What size was the system proposed? Or is it that you have serious shading?
System was going to cost £12000? That's OTT by todays standards, you can get the max domestic allowed 3.9kwp for around £10k. You would have needed all your paperwork and FIT's application accepted by your supplier before this coming Friday as the reduction date falls on Sunday, electricity suppliers aren't known for doing much back office stuff on a weekend.
 
Just reading through your earlier posts and I think you've dodged a bullet. Only £1100 estimated annual income from FIT's? What size was the system proposed? Or is it that you have serious shading?
System was going to cost £12000? That's OTT by todays standards, you can get the max domestic allowed 3.9kwp for around £10k. You would have needed all your paperwork and FIT's application accepted by your supplier before this coming Friday as the reduction date falls on Sunday, electricity suppliers aren't known for doing much back office stuff on a weekend.

System was 3.5k and we don't have any shading, house is 3 floors on top of a hill. They said they would have given me the certificate on Monday even though the work was not complete... that alone sounds dodgy to me.

The £1100 would have come from my electricity provider over a year. This is by law as the government have made a deal with the energy suppliers. I would also have got some extra money (£20 - £70) off my bill by "selling" any solar electricity back to them. Looking at the figures I would have made a lot of savings after recouping the initial £12k investment. Their still working on my neighbours roof, it's looking good hope it works out for him.
 
I got 2 done ( ours and mother in laws) 2 weeks ago. 22k for 2x 3.9kw systems and 20year extended warranty. Had a call from British gas to say everything was received and ok.
 
I got 2 done ( ours and mother in laws) 2 weeks ago. 22k for 2x 3.9kw systems and 20year extended warranty. Had a call from British gas to say everything was received and ok.

I hate you /joke. Mine was 12k for 3.5kw and 25 years warranty
 
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